- 2004.05.09 Duvan's legs are starting to figure out the motions of crawling. You can tell that he really wants to get on his knees, but somewhere along the line the process breaks down, and he reverts to sliding again! :) His left leg really seems to be getting the hang of it before the right one.
- 2004.05.10 Duvan's 3rd tooth made its appearance today! Duvan also had a visit to the doctor because of a productive cough, and got his first dose of antibiotics. This is a first that we really hoped would come only months later... We did not realize how much sugar they put into baby medicine! The antibiotic syrup literally tastes sweeter than maple syrup, and one side effect (not mentioned on the pamphlet) is a decided turn in Duvan's food preferences! Fruits are in, veggies are out, thank you. We probably also have to say officially then:
- 2004.05.10 Duvan's first sugar. Tons of it, in his medicine.
- 2004.05.11 Seeing Duvan developing the skill of crawling is very interesting. He instinctively knows what his goal is, it's to be crawling on all fours. He now stands in the crawling position for a while, ponders life a little, then falls flat on his tummy and happily slides to where he wants to go. :)
- 2004.05.12 The crawling position stance developed a little further today! Duvan will stand in the crawling position, then slowly rocks forward and backwards, forward and backwards, then falls flat on his tummy and happily sails to where he wants to go. :)
- 2004.05.13 Tooth number 4 is out! 4 Teeth in a spand of a couple of weeks, unbelievable!
- 2004.05.13 Sometimes we are completely astonished by something that Duvan accomplishes. Today, out of the blue, Duvan went from his tummy to a sitting position. Every so careful, but quite skillfully he pushed himself up on his butt and beamed with a sense of accomplishment!
- 2004.05.13 Duvan has a favorite new word: "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma" (This word, unlike others in modern language, has a variable amount of syllables, depending on the context). It's beautiful to hear Mama coming from his mouth.
- 2004.05.14 Duvan is starting to communicate with words. He plays little word games with his mother, echoing a 1-syllable word like "Ba" (his favorite), or "Ta". They have quite a rythm going, and go back and forth super fast! Marésa: "Ta", Duvan: "Ta!", Marésa: "Ta", Duvan: "Ta!" etc. He actually will also now do it with everyone, of course to the delight of especially his uncle Cobus. Duvan will be playing on the other side of the room, and Cobus will go "Duvan, Ba!", and Duvan answers like it's the most natural thing to do, sometimes dropping everything he's doing to look at Cobus, other times continuing with what he was doing while echoing. :) It is so amazingly cute.
- 2004.05.14 For a while we've played a game in the bath of putting things on our head, then on Duvan's head. Now he wants to put everything in site on his head to see your reaction. :)
- 2004.05.24 Duvan has learnt to clap hands when we say "Duvan, clap hands!". I wish we could effectively describe how amazingly rewarding it is to see him do that. Sometimes we will sing a little Afrikaans song that goes "Handjies Klap, Koekies Bak", and Duvan will clap his hands when he hears the part that says it. He also will sometimes clap hands when we tell people of his new skill and he hears the words. :)
- 2004.05.24 There are times when Duvan will do something when we go, "Does he really know what he's doing?". This is one of those things, he kept taking the phone to his ear today as if he's talking on it. We couldn't really tell whether he actually wanted to pretend like he is talking, but it was so cute to see him do it!
- 2004.05.25 Eight months old!
- 2004.05.25 Duvan will splash in the bath when we say "Duvan, make splashes!". It's so cute, because he gets very confused about the water that gets on his face and in his eyes when he splashes, but it seems to give him more resolve to let that water fly! He'll get quie serious as he splashes harder and harder. He never wipes his eyes with his hands, but rather pulls the funniest looong faces as he tries to blink the water out of his eyes.
- 2005.05.27 Duvan has started to make all kinds of funny faces at us. He loves it to see us laugh at him, so will look us straight in the eyes, and then all of a sudden pull a funny face, like making a really flat kind of open-mouth smile, or stretching his eyes and mouth open wide. I know, we've said it before, but it's so cute. Duvan is definitely a fun kid, he loves to laugh and smile and loves to share moments with you.
On Mother's Day, Duvan got to wear his favorite sweater that Grandma Martie knitted for him. He also got to hang out a lot with all of his favorite people, grandma's and grandpa's, as the family gathered at the Boshoffs. There was good reason for the gathering too, because Mom & Dad got to share the news of Duvan's brother/sister that will arrive in December!
Mornings are always treated special by Duvan, he greets it with such an enthusiasm for life that it rubs off you and brings a smile to your face every so often. Duvan's curiosity for the camera has not subsided, this object that he so rarely can touch and explore.
We thought we'd again share some expressions as Duvan is chatting away at Mom & Dad, taking up the spoon every now and then to emphasize an important point...
Playing out in the sun is serious fun!
Duvan kept putting the pieces of this stacker on top of his head, before he became particularly interested in the little knobs attached to this piece. That is the look of pure concentration. :)
The focus of his attention...
These eyes are full of love and life.
There, the first evidence on film of Duvan's first teeth. :) The smile that steals our hearts over and over again.
Moments later Duvan decided to take a nap, which he conveniently did right where we played that morning.
Later in the morning Duvan was quite upset about being dressed, and wanted to be held afterwards, but since Mom & Dad had to get ready as well, Duvan had to be content with sitting by himself on the bed. He was crying one moment, and was cute the next when we handed him a clothes hanger to play with. He looked adorable holding the hanger in his hand, the tear running down his left cheek the only evidence of the high drama of a moment ago.
Dimple-faced curiosity.
Duvan looks adorable in his snow-white fleece PJ's, another of Grandma Martie's creations.
Here Duvan is testing the motions of crawling. He gets into position for take-off, will bluff with a couple of mock attempts at movement (see milestones above), but still prefers sliding as his primary mode of transport.
